Clinic could save money

Dr. Colleen Thoms said working at the O'Connell Health Center is a dream job.

"There's no paper work. We don't worry about insurance," she said of the new clinic recently opened by the St. Johns County School District. "This is awesome for both patients and doctors."

The St. Johns County School District also hopes the new clinic will be awesome for its bottom line.

The clinic, located on International Golf Parkway near State Road 16, is the first of its kind in the state, said Jim Springfield, St. Johns School District human resources executive director. Springfield said the school district opened the clinic for its employees and their dependents in hopes it will save millions in medical costs.

The district expects to save money by not paying for the overhead at doctor's offices. The district hired the company CareHere, which then has a contract with doctors to work at the clinic. And the district's employees get the medical care and prescriptions at the clinic for free.

The school district will open two more of these clinics in January 2010. Springfield said if the facilities aren't successful, meaning the district's employees don't use them enough, the school district will have to increase its employees' insurance premiums and co-pays.

"We don't want to have to do that. We're trying to fight off the outrageous increase in medical costs per year for the school district," Springfield said. "We're trying to hold costs where they are for as long as we can."

Springfield said high medical costs combined with the steep state budget cuts in education has the school district trying to plan for the future. The new clinics could save the district $4 million in three years, which is roughly the equivalent of funding 30 teachers a year, Springfield said.

Mark Pudlow, spokesman of the Florida Education Association in Tallahassee, the state's teachers' union, said a clinic such as this "is an excellent idea for employees and school districts to kick around."

"Until such a time when health care costs get under control, school districts are under tremendous pressure," Pudlow said. "We will watch how this goes. But with just about anything, if its agreed on with employees and the district we will back it."

John Watson, the clinic's director of operations, said that since the facility opened in early May the amount of patients has continued to increase. In the last week, 83 percent of their available appointments were filled.

Watson said his company, Crown Consulting Group, hired by CareHere, aims for 85 percent and the clinic is doing well.

"We're this early in the process and we're right where we want to be," he said.

Watson's company has health-care systems similar to this in numerous city and county governments around the country. And he said, "There's a lot of (school) districts watching to see how this works out."

Springfield added that St. Johns County's administration is also considering doing something such as this for its employees' health care.

Dr. Thoms, who has a private practice in Orange Park, said she believes the clinic will get quality doctors because working there is "such a pleasure."

"I'm making extra money and I don't have to deal with all the hassle of insurance and paper work," she said. "If someone could set up a perfect practice this is it."

O'CONNELL HEALTH CENTER

* The Health Center is located next to Mill Creek Elementary school off International Golf Parkway.

* The St. Johns County School District plans to open two more of these clinics by 2010, one of which would be in Northwest St. Johns County.

* It is not required for the school district's employees to use the clinics and stop seeing their current doctors. But, the school district warns that if the clinics don't get enough patients, insurance premiums and co-pays will likely go up.